Warning: this next sentence is bawdy. In an episode of The Simpsons, when Marge was about to board a ship, Smithers said, “'I think women and seamen don't mix." Of course, double entendres have been with us for centuries. Even Shakespeare used them in “Romeo and Juliet” (Google “bawdy hand”).

“Freed from the yolk of ambition and responsibility, released from the hunger of destiny, the elderly have time for themselves….old age is the embryonic phase of the afterlife.”

“This has not been a happy year. This is not a happy country.” I wrote those words in 2008. Of course, they’re even more relevant today. A dozen years ago, I decided to venture to Bhutan to study their Gross National Happiness index.

I find progressions fascinating. It’s probably why I’m obsessed with our life stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middlescence, elderhood. I also love the progressions of the four seasons, which can be a perfect metaphor for life.

What would be your ideal title when you’re 50+? I was connecting with a friend who I’ve had the pleasure of working with both at Joie de Vivre and Airbnb and she was telling me about a recent conversation she had with the “Resident Wise Woman” Deb Ryan of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (scroll down to the second row of leaders to find Deb).

I laid in bed wide awake night after night, feeling anxious and overwhelmed. “Is this all there is to life?” I thought. “With all the success, why do I feel stuck?” On the outside, it looked like I was living the American dream.

I got my real estate license while in college at age 19. I was subsequently hired to work for my uncle’s commercial real estate brokerage firm in 1980, at a time when Silicon Valley was primarily fruit trees and vacant land.

Is it the best of times or the worst of times? Charles Dickens wrote that famous opening line of “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1859. He wrote it as a statement, not a question. I suppose it was the best of times for some people and the worst of times for others, just as it is today.

In my mid-twenties, I told a friend I was going to the Esalen Institute to “find myself.” He responded matter-of-factly, “You’re out of luck. You won’t find yourself there because I see you’re here.” Clearly, my friend didn’t get what I meant.

Diane Flynn and Patty White are co-conspirators of mine and they’re popular MEA guest faculty. Their book, “The Upside,” showcases the business case for gender diversity and specific actions each stakeholder can take to build more inclusive cultures.